This brings up an old issue, but I can't find what I'm looking for so I'm starting a new thread.

We turned our air bed around so the pump connects at the head of the bed, since having it at the foot made dealing with the pump somewhat cumbersome. We keep the pump between the bed and the closet, but that, too, is becoming inconvenient.

I think I remember someone writing about how they somehow installed the pump at the head of the bed by modifying the air bed foam frame.

I'm interested in knowing if anyone moved the pump to the head of the bed, and if so, provide details of how it was done.

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Why would the pump be a problem at the foot of the bed? We have had ours installed in the recess at the foot of the bed for 6 months now and don't even know it's there. Even making the bed up has caused no inconvenience.

This brings up an old issue, but I can't find what I'm looking for so I'm starting a new thread.

We turned our air bed around so the pump connects at the head of the bed, since having it at the foot made dealing with the pump somewhat cumbersome. We keep the pump between the bed and the closet, but that, too, is becoming inconvenient.

I think I remember someone writing about how they somehow installed the pump at the head of the bed by modifying the air bed foam frame.

I'm interested in knowing if anyone moved the pump to the head of the bed, and if so, provide details of how it was done.

On my 34ft we pulled out the night stand drawer on the driver side, drilled a large hole in the side of the cabinet toward the bed placed the pump inside the cabinet. One control comes up through the top of the same cabinet. The other runs along the wall at the head of the bed and up onto the night stand.

Why would the pump be a problem at the foot of the bed? We have had ours installed in the recess at the foot of the bed for 6 months now and don't even know it's there. Even making the bed up has caused no inconvenience.

We have a 38' and the bed runs towards the passenger side of the RV from the driver's side wall and moves when you bring the rear slides in. Is the 36' set up that way, or is the bed parallel to the side walls? If yours is like mine, when you say "recess", what do you mean? Is there a recess in the mattress setup itself, or are you talking about under the support board for the mattress?

Jerry, it sounds like you're rear slides are similar to mine even though we have a king bed and you probably have a queen bed (based upon the 38' length).

Here's my first modification -

I removed the 2 - pieces of plywood that form the base. Ours has a wood platform at the head end that travels in & out with the slide. You'll have to cut a hole in the plywood to allow distribution of the air tubes. I then determined that the air pump is too tall to simply sit on the platform under the head end. I added 2 X 2 strips of pine to the top of the frame (wood on metal) and re-installed the plywood. The extra height was not a comfort issue but the vanity slide "squeezes" down on the foot end of the mattress somewhat. It didn't seem to hurt anything so we kept it that way for more than 2 - years.

Issues / Problems -

Since my wife finally retired and has spent considerably more time in the coach, she pointed out that it always feels like you "roll" out of bed on the edge and the sheets don't stay tucked in under the mattress. The problem was that the plywood base was NOT as big as it needs to be to adequately support the mattress. We were also becoming more concerned with the "squeeze" affect on the foot end of the mattress possibly deforming &/or damaging it.

New Solution -

I removed the 2 X 2 strips to lower the mattress back to its original heigth. I then cut 2 - new pieces of plywood large enough to actually fit the mattress.

Here's the interesting part ... we looked high & low for some material to cover the edge of the plywood like the original pieces. It turns out to be "hull liner" material used on boats & RV's. It's the same material used for the ceiling of our coaches. We couldn't find the exact color but found something suitable (the bedspread covers it any ways).

I mounted the air pump right in front of the platform where the AC cord still reaches the outlet and the air tubes reach the mattress. I purchased "L" shaped brackets and flat aluminum strips at Lowe's. I don't have a picture but it looks like a wide "U" with an ear on one end (inverted "L"). The "ear" end screws onto the platform while the other end screws into the wood cross member. I made 2 - such brackets and mounted them to support the air pump. I used some double sided mounting tape to keep it from sliding around. I should have done this the first time!

Sorry I don't have pictures to post. NOTE: There was some drilling involved as the brackets were predrilled which didn't match when you but them together back-to-back. I can make a diagram and post it if necessary including parts. Feel free to message me with any questions.

Jerry, it sounds like you're rear slides are similar to mine even though we have a king bed and you probably have a queen bed (based upon the 38' length).

Sorry I don't have pictures to post. NOTE: There was some drilling involved as the brackets were predrilled which didn't match when you but them together back-to-back. I can make a diagram and post it if necessary including parts. Feel free to message me with any questions.

I have little sense of direction and little sense of spatial relations, so, yes, a picture or diagram would be helpful. You can email me directly at shirjer@reagan.com

Here is a basic diagram that represents my method for mounting the Sleep Number air pump under the head end:

I used #8 flat head screws, lock washers, and nuts to fasten all brackets to each other. Same goes for the flat aluminum bar. I drilled new holes with countersink because the predrilled holes in the brackets didn't line up when placing them back-to-back. Make sure the screws are no longer than absolutely necessary because they can interfere with the mounting.

I measured the distance from the edge of the platform to the edge of the wood cross member per the diagram and built the brackets slightly smaller to make sure they'd fit. My measurement was 11 1/2" and my brackets were set to 11 3/8". The air pump actually sits on multiple layers of double sided mounting take to create a level surface. I then used crossing nylon zip ties to hold the air pump in place.

I was originally going to use flat aluminum bars and bend appropriately. I decided that my ability to make bends at exact positions and in duplicate was harder than fastening together brackets. It worked for me.